Relating Snow Flower and the Secret Fan to Confucianism
- Zea Page
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Connection to Confucianism:
Throughout Lisa See's novel Snow Flower and the Secret Fan there are things relating to Confucianism. The novel takes place in 19th century China when most of the Chinese families obeyed the Confucian principles. In this excerpt of the novel the main character, Lily, is faced with the dilemma of an outbreak of typhoid. Throughout the experience she shows how she follows a lot of Confucian principles and is in essence "the superior man". Lisa See also demonstrates in this excerpt the different Confucian relationships.
The Relationships:
In this excerpt there are multiple major relationships represented (in the whole novel all five of the relationships are demonstrated).
It shows the relationship between the elder brother and the younger brother because when Lily decides she has to leave the room that she has locked herself and her children in, she tells her children "Elder Brother is in charge of you when I am not here. You are to obey him in all ways." (p. 177) In this relationship the younger children must listen to and obey the older child, but at the same time the older child is responsible for the well-being of his siblings.
Another relationship is that between parent and child (mother and daughter). When Lily's daughter Jade complains about having to eat congee her mother slaps her. The child is supposed to be obedient and dutiful to her mother, but since Jade was complaining she wasn't behaving properly which is why she was slapped. In the same way Lily is the dutiful child to her mother-in-law. When Lily's mother-in-law becomes ill, Lily knows that her duty is to care for her, because she is her elder. Even though it is dangerous to care for a person who is sick with typhoid, Lily still behaves in the correct manner by caring for her elder. The mother-in-law also plays her part in this relationship, because in the beginning of the excerpt she tries to take care of Lily and Lily's children by offering them chicken.
The relationship between Lily and Third Sister-in-law best fits under the friend and friend relationship. Third Sister-in-law's entire family has died from the typhoid and even though Lily says that she knows that it is wrong to help her (because then Lily could get typhoid as well), Lily still consoles her sister-in-law and makes her a cup of tea. Lily knows that it is important to take care of her friends so even though it is putting her in danger she still takes care of her sister-in-law because she is the elder friend and so must look out for her younger friend.
The last relationship shown in this excerpt is that of teacher and student. Earlier in the novel we find out that Uncle Lu is teaching Lily's elder son and so when the typhoid hits Lily always makes sure to leave food outside Uncle Lu's door, because teachers are respected in Confucian beliefs. Also Uncle Lu is Lily's elder and so she must take care of her elders.
Comparison to Confucian Beliefs:
This excerpt really shows the role of filial piety in Confucian beliefs. Lily could have just taken care of herself and her children when the typhoid broke out, but she has too much respect for her elders to not try to take care of them, she knows her duty is to make sure that they will be okay. These Confucian beliefs are especially important when Lily goes to take care of her mother-in-law who is sick with typhoid.
Confucius said, "In serving his parents, a son may gently remonstrate with them. When he sees that they are not inclined to listen to him, he should resume an attitude of reverence and not abandon his effort to serve them. He may feel worried, but does not complain." (4:18) Although this was talking about a son with his parents, this can also relate to Lily and her mother-in-law. Lily is worried when she goes to take care of her sick mother-in-law because she is putting herself at risk towards getting typhoid as well, but she does not complain about having to take care of her, because Lily knows that it is her duty.
Confucius also said, "Filial piety nowadays means to be able to support one's parents. But we support even dogs and horses. If there is not feeling of reverence, wherein lies the difference?" (2:7) Lily does treat her mother-in-law with reverence. Instead of just giving her mother-in-law food and water, Lily goes above and beyond by cleaning her lower half, making her congee, feeding her own blood to her mother-in-law (to try to pass on her strength and health), and when the mother-in-law dies, Lily makes sure that she is prepared for death. Lily didn't need to do any of these things, but it was her belief in filial piety that caused her to take care of her mother-in-law.
This excerpt also shows Lily's humanity and how she is a lot like a "superior man" (other than the fact that she is a woman).
Confucius said, "A man of humanity, wishing to establish his own character, also establishes the character of others, and wishing to be prominent himself, also helps others to be prominent. To be able to judge others by what is near to ourselves may be called the method of realizing humanity." (6:28) Confucius also said, "What I do not want others to do to me, I do not want to do to them."(5:11) Both of these are basically saying that you should treat people the way you want people to treat you. Lily follows these beliefs which we can see by the way she treats the people in her lives. Lily would want her family to take care of her when she is an elder, so Lily makes sure to take care of her elders (Uncle Lu and her mother-in-law). Lily also would want someone to comfort her if her entire family had died so she makes sure to comfort Third Sister-in-law about her loss. All of the things Lily does puts her life at risk, but Lily doesn't care because she would want people to take care of her in return.
Confucius said that the five things that make a man a man of humanity are "Earnestness, liberality, truthfulness, diligence, and generosity. If one is earnest, one will not be treated with disrespect. If one is liberal, one will win the hearts of all. If one is truthful, one will be trusted. If one is diligent, one will be successful. And if one is generous, one will be able to enjoy the service of others." (17:6) Lily displays all of these traits. She is earnest in how she makes sure to do all of the actions she can think of to protect her children (lock them in a room, pray daily, only feed them congee...), she is liberal in how she accepts how everyone is coping with the typhoid and how she doesn't judge them for that (Lily doesn't tell her mother-in-law that it is bad to eat chicken because it is only in her opinion and she doesn't want to insult her mother-in-law), she is truthful in how she doesn't lie to Third Sister-in-law about how things will be alright because she knows they won't, she is diligent in how she does all the tasks needed to take care of her mother-in-law, and lastly, Lily is generous in how she makes sure to prepare food for Uncle Lu even though she doesn't have to.
Confucius said that a man of humanity "will never seek to live at the expense of injuring humanity. He would rather sacrifice his life in order to realize humanity." (15:8) Lily woudl rather die of typhoid than ignore the fact that her mother-in-law is dying, which is showing that she would sacrifice her life in order to help others.
Confucius said that a superior man "follows righteousness as the standard." (4:10) Lily always tries to do the right thing, even thought it may harm herself in the process.
Confucius taught four things: culture, conduct, loyalty, and faithfulness. (7:24) Lily has all of these things. She has culture and conduct in how she takes care of her family. She has loyalty and faithfulness in the fact that she does take care of her family.
There really aren't any differences to the Confucian beliefs except for maybe the fact that Lily doesn't take care of her father-in-law when she probably should have (he's not even talked about in this excerpt). Also in Confucianism the superior man is supposed to be "free from four things... no arbitrariness of opinion, no dogmatism, no obstinacy, and no egotism." (9: 4) Lily doesn't completely comply with these because she does have egotism in a way because she is almost happy that her mother-in-law died because now she will be the head woman of the household. Lily also doesn't follow the husband and wife relationship because she says that in the future she will not allow any concubines in her household when in reality the husband is supposed to be the one to decide if there are concubines or not.
Relating Snow Flower and the Secret Fan to Confucianism
- Zea Page
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Connection to Confucianism:
Throughout Lisa See's novel Snow Flower and the Secret Fan there are things relating to Confucianism. The novel takes place in 19th century China when most of the Chinese families obeyed the Confucian principles. In this excerpt of the novel the main character, Lily, is faced with the dilemma of an outbreak of typhoid. Throughout the experience she shows how she follows a lot of Confucian principles and is in essence "the superior man". Lisa See also demonstrates in this excerpt the different Confucian relationships.
The Relationships:
In this excerpt there are multiple major relationships represented (in the whole novel all five of the relationships are demonstrated).
It shows the relationship between the elder brother and the younger brother because when Lily decides she has to leave the room that she has locked herself and her children in, she tells her children "Elder Brother is in charge of you when I am not here. You are to obey him in all ways." (p. 177) In this relationship the younger children must listen to and obey the older child, but at the same time the older child is responsible for the well-being of his siblings.
Another relationship is that between parent and child (mother and daughter). When Lily's daughter Jade complains about having to eat congee her mother slaps her. The child is supposed to be obedient and dutiful to her mother, but since Jade was complaining she wasn't behaving properly which is why she was slapped. In the same way Lily is the dutiful child to her mother-in-law. When Lily's mother-in-law becomes ill, Lily knows that her duty is to care for her, because she is her elder. Even though it is dangerous to care for a person who is sick with typhoid, Lily still behaves in the correct manner by caring for her elder. The mother-in-law also plays her part in this relationship, because in the beginning of the excerpt she tries to take care of Lily and Lily's children by offering them chicken.
The relationship between Lily and Third Sister-in-law best fits under the friend and friend relationship. Third Sister-in-law's entire family has died from the typhoid and even though Lily says that she knows that it is wrong to help her (because then Lily could get typhoid as well), Lily still consoles her sister-in-law and makes her a cup of tea. Lily knows that it is important to take care of her friends so even though it is putting her in danger she still takes care of her sister-in-law because she is the elder friend and so must look out for her younger friend.
The last relationship shown in this excerpt is that of teacher and student. Earlier in the novel we find out that Uncle Lu is teaching Lily's elder son and so when the typhoid hits Lily always makes sure to leave food outside Uncle Lu's door, because teachers are respected in Confucian beliefs. Also Uncle Lu is Lily's elder and so she must take care of her elders.
Comparison to Confucian Beliefs:
This excerpt really shows the role of filial piety in Confucian beliefs. Lily could have just taken care of herself and her children when the typhoid broke out, but she has too much respect for her elders to not try to take care of them, she knows her duty is to make sure that they will be okay. These Confucian beliefs are especially important when Lily goes to take care of her mother-in-law who is sick with typhoid.
Confucius said, "In serving his parents, a son may gently remonstrate with them. When he sees that they are not inclined to listen to him, he should resume an attitude of reverence and not abandon his effort to serve them. He may feel worried, but does not complain." (4:18) Although this was talking about a son with his parents, this can also relate to Lily and her mother-in-law. Lily is worried when she goes to take care of her sick mother-in-law because she is putting herself at risk towards getting typhoid as well, but she does not complain about having to take care of her, because Lily knows that it is her duty.
Confucius also said, "Filial piety nowadays means to be able to support one's parents. But we support even dogs and horses. If there is not feeling of reverence, wherein lies the difference?" (2:7) Lily does treat her mother-in-law with reverence. Instead of just giving her mother-in-law food and water, Lily goes above and beyond by cleaning her lower half, making her congee, feeding her own blood to her mother-in-law (to try to pass on her strength and health), and when the mother-in-law dies, Lily makes sure that she is prepared for death. Lily didn't need to do any of these things, but it was her belief in filial piety that caused her to take care of her mother-in-law.
This excerpt also shows Lily's humanity and how she is a lot like a "superior man" (other than the fact that she is a woman).
Confucius said, "A man of humanity, wishing to establish his own character, also establishes the character of others, and wishing to be prominent himself, also helps others to be prominent. To be able to judge others by what is near to ourselves may be called the method of realizing humanity." (6:28) Confucius also said, "What I do not want others to do to me, I do not want to do to them."(5:11) Both of these are basically saying that you should treat people the way you want people to treat you. Lily follows these beliefs which we can see by the way she treats the people in her lives. Lily would want her family to take care of her when she is an elder, so Lily makes sure to take care of her elders (Uncle Lu and her mother-in-law). Lily also would want someone to comfort her if her entire family had died so she makes sure to comfort Third Sister-in-law about her loss. All of the things Lily does puts her life at risk, but Lily doesn't care because she would want people to take care of her in return.
Confucius said that the five things that make a man a man of humanity are "Earnestness, liberality, truthfulness, diligence, and generosity. If one is earnest, one will not be treated with disrespect. If one is liberal, one will win the hearts of all. If one is truthful, one will be trusted. If one is diligent, one will be successful. And if one is generous, one will be able to enjoy the service of others." (17:6) Lily displays all of these traits. She is earnest in how she makes sure to do all of the actions she can think of to protect her children (lock them in a room, pray daily, only feed them congee...), she is liberal in how she accepts how everyone is coping with the typhoid and how she doesn't judge them for that (Lily doesn't tell her mother-in-law that it is bad to eat chicken because it is only in her opinion and she doesn't want to insult her mother-in-law), she is truthful in how she doesn't lie to Third Sister-in-law about how things will be alright because she knows they won't, she is diligent in how she does all the tasks needed to take care of her mother-in-law, and lastly, Lily is generous in how she makes sure to prepare food for Uncle Lu even though she doesn't have to.
Confucius said that a man of humanity "will never seek to live at the expense of injuring humanity. He would rather sacrifice his life in order to realize humanity." (15:8) Lily woudl rather die of typhoid than ignore the fact that her mother-in-law is dying, which is showing that she would sacrifice her life in order to help others.
Confucius said that a superior man "follows righteousness as the standard." (4:10) Lily always tries to do the right thing, even thought it may harm herself in the process.
Confucius taught four things: culture, conduct, loyalty, and faithfulness. (7:24) Lily has all of these things. She has culture and conduct in how she takes care of her family. She has loyalty and faithfulness in the fact that she does take care of her family.
There really aren't any differences to the Confucian beliefs except for maybe the fact that Lily doesn't take care of her father-in-law when she probably should have (he's not even talked about in this excerpt). Also in Confucianism the superior man is supposed to be "free from four things... no arbitrariness of opinion, no dogmatism, no obstinacy, and no egotism." (9: 4) Lily doesn't completely comply with these because she does have egotism in a way because she is almost happy that her mother-in-law died because now she will be the head woman of the household. Lily also doesn't follow the husband and wife relationship because she says that in the future she will not allow any concubines in her household when in reality the husband is supposed to be the one to decide if there are concubines or not.
Bibliography:
- "Confucianism." Mr. Plouffe's Website. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Sep 2010. <http://splashman.phoenix.wikispaces.net/Confucianism>.
- See, Lisa. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. United States: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2005. Print.
- "Confucianism." N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Sep 2010. <http://www.globaled.org/chinaproject/confucian/reading1.html>.